It was torture for me, to read all the tweets from Labour Party Conference this year. In Manchester, at #Lab10, I had a wonderful time and I was thoroughly unhappy at not being there for #Lab 11 in Liverpool.
I did however watch what I could, and was delighted every time I saw someone I knew pop up on screen, in the audience, or at the podium, addressing the delegates and visitors. I gave little squeals of excitement when I saw @msgracefh wearing her "I <3 MCR" t-shirt, alongside other Manchester tweeps I recognised; when I saw @kevpeel listening intently to the speaker and of course I was very pleased to see Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley Central take to the podium for the first time at conference since being elected.
I watched Ed Miliband give his speech (except for the part when the television feed failed!) and overall I thought he did a good job. As with any leader's conference speech, there will be those who like it and those who don't. I expect Tories and Lib Dems to have a go and say it was rubbish, because they would have done that even if Ed had channeled Churchill.
I do 'get' why there were cheers when Ed said "I'm not Tony Blair." Those of you who have been with me on my political journey before, will know I have extreme difficulty with some of the decisions Blair made whilst in office. BUT you will also know that I consider his achievements in enacting some of the most socialist policy this country has seen since the creation of our wonderful NHS, as an incredible legacy.
The sad fact is though, despite winning three General Elections, Blair's Legacy is tainted. This is an incredible pity, for it makes many in the party ashamed, to some degree, of the leader who brought us the most electoral success we have ever seen.
We have a leader now, who really seems to understand, in exactly the way Blair did, that the Labour Party needs to change, in order to engage (and recruit) members and voters. This is no quick fix and cannot be done in twelve short months. Why the rush comrades? This coalition is going nowhere, the Tories are standing on Lib Dem shoulders of compliance, enabling them to ride roughshod over working people, the young, poor and disabled; while Clegg and the Parliamentary Lib Dem's know that if they break the coalition, they break their party and order their own P45s.
We have time. Time to demonstrate that the only party that truly represents workers; the only party that invests in the futures of our young people; and the only party that truly believes in a society that is fair for all, is The Labour Party.
We are stronger together than divided. We do not need factionalism and mixed agendas. That way is the road to perdition; the electoral wilderness. Ed Miliband is trying to bring our party back together, to give a voice back to the members, to re-lay the foundations upon which the Labour movement was built and give people a reason to join the party again. He is leading, not managing and that will take, those members who were used to the management-style of the New Labour period, time to adjust.
Delivering power back to the people; people who aspire, who want to contribute to a fair society, where everyone has the same opportunities and life chances is a huge task. It will take years to even scratch the surface.
By the time we have our next Labour government, some of the damage done to our society, by Cameron and his cronies, will be irreversible.
When they are finished, Dave, Gideon and their mate Clegg, will have made Thatcher look like Mother Theresa.
To fight them effectively the Labour Party must be a united force. We will still argue policy, there will still be those further to the left and those who occupy the centre-left and that is no bad thing. What we must do, is fight together, be focussed on our goal and make sure we do not gift a Tory win in 2015 through infighting and navel-gazing.
That is our biggest challenge and one we cannot afford to lose.
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